Qatar experience on One Health approach for middle-east respiratory syndrome coronavirus, 2012–2017: A viewpoint

Farag, Elmoubasher; Nour, Mohamed; Islam, Md. Mazharul; Mustafa, Aya; Khalid, Minahil; Sikkema, Reina S.; Alhajri, Forhud; Bu-Sayaa, Abdulla; Haroun, Mohamed; Van Kerkhove, Maria D.; Elkholy, Amgad; Malik, Sk. Mamunur R.; Reusken, Chantal; Koopmans, Marion; AlHajri, Mohd M.

Yet, these achievements were not without obstacles. As camels infected with MERS only show asymptomatic or mild respiratory tract disease, camel owners and workers doubted the link between camels and the disease. Moreover, the veterinarians showed insufficient interest in mounting a large scale outbreak operation similar to the one initiated by the public health sector, as they have a shortage of technical guidance on surveillance and other technical areas including laboratory tools and diagnostic kits. The One Health approach needed more local and international support to ensure a systematic and sustained implementation. Furthermore, one study on risk perception suggested that some camel owners have poor risk perception of MERS [15] . Additionally, both public health and veterinary sectors were accustomed to work in a solo vertical way and only occasionally engaged with each other in short term research projects. Apart from the SARS and H1N1 epidemics, the two sectors worked independently, making joint technical work a difficult task. Therefore, the livestock sector did not appear to feel the same pressure as the public health sector. However, further studies are required to explore areas for improvement to ultimately make the One Health approach more appealing to all sectors involved.